Imp wrote:It is not that I don't find my own imaginings and attempts at sub-creation satisfying; it is more that I find Tolkien's sub-creation unique and wonderful and fascinating. I wish for glimpses into his world; I wish to enter into the Other, that which is not me and is alien to me. Creating it myself, completing for myself that which is beyond the view, can work but it does not expand the horizon. It encloses it, creating a boundary to that world, somehow, because if it is the fruit of my own imaginings it is no longer the unknown.
On the other hand, discovering more of Tolkien's own story expands those horizons because more questions arise for me. As the boundaries expand, there is yet more that is unknown beyond those boundaries.
I'm not sure I'm expressing this in a way that is comprehensible. But Hobby, of course it is indeed satisfying to have a creative imagination.
I think I do understand, Imp, and I think you put your finger on something very important, which I hadn't been aware of before! I agree that, given the choice, of course I shouldn't mind getting more from Tolkien - the original author's ideas are more creative, more surprising, simply
because they come from someone other than myself!
But what I see (probably mistakenly?) in your and others' wishes for more is not what I wish - namely simply more great texts to enjoy - but it seems that you wish any gaps to be closed! And it is those gaps that, to me, are vital to the story!
Yes, I don't hesitate to use my own imagination where I feel like it - but I think that most of the time it doesn't even occur to me to ask such questions. Or maybe I get ideas subconsciously, without ever asking well-defined questions? I can't really tell.
I read "Fog on the Barrow-downs" for the VTSG a few days ago - there were quite a few hints to the legendary past there, and this time (probably because of having dealt with ME history a bit more recently) it was the first time that it occurred to me that I should maybe be asking what those stories are about - but at the same time I realised that this was a sad question, and that it was more thrilling to just marvel at the things hinted at in this chapter.
It's like a picture that is only good as long as the artist makes a decision on which part of the subject to give in detail and which to leave out or just sketch.
When everything is given equal importance, the whole ends up being meaningless, I think.
But it doesn't, Hobby! The beer is good or bad depending on whether the brewer was drunk or not that day, or whether the hops had lost freshness on the long journey from the South-farthing. What I think of the beer doesn't matter; it takes its quality from the reality of Middle-earth and I am just an observer.
Again, reading such a thing just makes me sad. I'll just be glad I'm not you!